Watching and waiting
Published Wednesday August 27th, 2008
Richard Jepson's voice sounded edgy on the phone yesterday morning as he described how he felt after hearing the search for his friend Steven Young, missing at sea since Sunday, has been called off.
"I'm still in shock," he said. "I keep thinking, you know, when we lost him. I just picture a whole bunch of us in there, screaming his name off the boat."
The 26-year-old Young went missing sometime Sunday afternoon after apparently falling off the converted fishing boat he, Jepson and several friends were on at the time, en route to Portage Island to dig clams. Neither Jepson nor the owner of the boat, John Matheson, know exactly how long he was out of sight before his absence was discovered, although 911 was called around 3:30 p.m. He was not wearing a life jacket.
Helicopters and boats, including the coast guard cutter Cape Breton, scoured Miramichi Bay until Monday night, while ground search teams combed Portage and other islands, before the search was called off and reclassified as a missing person case.
Although Jepson said the ground search had appeared to be thorough, he and others spent time Monday night at Burnt Church wharf, doing their own search.
"We looked around the shore there, just for our own sake, I guess," he said. "Just to say that we did look a little further."
Before the search was called off, Jepson and numerous friends and supporters spent all of Monday perched on the rocky sea-wall at Neguac wharf, along with the boat's owner, John Matheson. One of Young's sister also spent time at the wharf, spendign most of it pacing back and forth along the seawall.
The number of watchers swelled and dwindled as the day wore on, but all eyes were on the sea, or raised to take in the sight of a military Sea King helicopter that had been dispatched from Halifax to aid in the search, as it occasionally circled close to shore.
Some left to eat, others stayed as family friends brought pop and fried chicken. The search for a set of keys temporarily lost among the rocks provided a diversion for while, and the conversation sometimes turned to laughter, but the mood was one of sombre expectation.
The sight of watchers sitting on the rocks fighting back tears with mixed success was a common one all afternoon.
"It's like a dream, like it's not really happening," said Amy Mather, who first heard the news when Jepson called her after work.
When asked to describe the kind of man Young was, she said, simply: "He was hyper, a lot of fun ... and a big heart."
While describing Young himself, Jepson also painted a picture of an energetic man with a bright future.
He said Young was an entertainer and active athlete, fond of kayaking along the river with his fiancé Pamela Hambrook. The two friends spent time out west together, along with another friend, before returning to Miramichi. They had known each other since middle school.
"He was just learning to become a mechanic, working at his dad's shop, and everything," he recalled. "He was doing good for himself."
Jepson has vivid memories of frantically searching the boat when it was realized Young was missing, thinking that maybe he had gone somewhere to lie down. Young had gone into the cabin to talk with captain and boat owner John Matheson earlier, who said the last he saw of him was when he went to use the bathroom.
"I assumed he was back up top," recalls Matheson, who was rarely far from Neguac wharf Monday. "One of the lads came down in the hole in the sunroof in the boat and said "Where's Steven?" I said ‘he's up above,' and [they] said ‘no he's not'."
At that point, Matheson said he swung the boat around, while Jepson called 911. Eventually, the boat's engine stalled, and the craft had to be towed to Neguac, but by then other boats were searching for Young.
Matheson can't recall exactly how many minutes passed between talking to Young and realizing he was missing.
"It didn't seem like any time at all," he said. "No more than five, I don't think, but we don't know, really."
Jepson remembers the realization quite well.
"My heart just dropped," he said. "You don't think it's real, you know, you look around the boat and somebody's missing. I was just dumbfounded, at the same time I felt responsible, like I should have noticed it earlier, but you just don't know. It could have happened to any of us, earlier."
The captain of the Shippigan-based search and rescue unit that was involved, Serge Lemay, said Monday he was prepared to stay as long as was necessary to find Young, but said strong currents could be a factor in determining whether to call off a search.
He said, in the event that the person being sought has drowned, it can take awhile to find him.
"[He] can be underwater for awhile, and it would be difficult find the person," he said, adding: "But we don't know yet."
The RCMP released a description and photo of Young on their website at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday. Spokesman Gary Cameron said yesterday the operation was now essentially a recovery mission.
"There's no signs of alcohol being a factor in this case," he said of the investigation, adding: "We don't suspect foul play at all in this case."
When contacted Tuesday, Young's family said they preferred not to make a statement at that time, under the circumstances.
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